Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has claimed that the team should avoid looking at the Premier League table at the minute as they seek their third successive title.
The 2018/19 domestic treble winners are eight points behind frontrunners Liverpool in second going into this weekend's fixtures, and Gundogan, who contributed to all three goals in Germany's 3-0 win over Estonia on Sunday, insists the Citizens must improve.
Speaking to the club's official website, he declared: “We go to Crystal Palace which will be tough, but we have no choice - we will try to improve.
"When you are in front (in the table) it always feels great - that’s why it’s a bit tougher to watch the table right now as we are not there and there is quite a gap. But maybe we shouldn’t watch the table now.
“We will get a lot of opportunities in the coming months to influence that but, right now, it’s something we have to accept and something we have to deal with.”
Speaking on the qualities and frailties of this City side, he added: “I always have the feeling we are able to score especially with the power we have upfront.
“There are always chances to create something but in the last 10 or 15 minutes against Wolves they were very defensive, and their physicality meant they were able to cope with our headers and their spaces were tiny so it was difficult."
Yes we know it's still early days in the season, but there are some interesting names in the Golden Shoe rankings... https://t.co/4272Dh1xaL
— 90min (@90min_Football) October 17, 2019
Indeed, he then went further, perhaps surprisingly admitting: “It always feels that if we are not able to score the first goal, we get maybe a bit nervous and the confidence is not 100 per cent there.
“Sometimes it is about being patient and to know you are able to create a clear chance, but we have to score. We have to learn from that.”
Source : 90min